The German party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has made the country’s declining birth rate and abortion policy central political issues.
The birth rate is at historically low levels in Germany. According to official figures, it stands at around 1.32–1.35 children per woman, far below the replacement level of 2.1. For mothers with German citizenship, the figure is even lower. In 2025, the lowest number of births since 1946 was recorded – and this comes at the same time as significant excess mortality.
Threat to the future of the German people
To reverse this trend, AfD is calling for a ‘demografische Wende’ (demographic turnaround). Allowing immigration to compensate for the population decline is rejected; it does not replace having children of one’s own, while at the same time changing the composition of the population. The solution must come through a family policy that encourages more children among the native population: ‘Germany needs more children, otherwise the future of the German people is threatened.’
The party has put forward a number of proposals to make having children more attractive:
- Tax relief, higher child tax allowances and ‘spousal income splitting’ are to be extended to ‘family income splitting’*.
- Repayment of or exemption from pension contributions of around €20,000 per child.
- Child benefit and a ‘baby bonus’ at birth, with increasing amounts from the third or fourth child.
- ‘Marriage start-up loans’ for young couples, with parts of the debt to be forgiven for each child born.
- Reduced VAT on children’s products, a care allowance for the person who stays at home with the child, and free nursery/school meals.
AfD has previously highlighted the three-child family as an ideal target for stabilising demographics and securing future generations for the pension, healthcare and care systems.
More restrictive abortion policy
Abortion is not to be recognised as a state-funded right, nor is it to be presented as a human right. Life is to be protected from conception to death, and those seeking an abortion are to receive counselling focused on carrying the child to term. Doctors who refuse to perform abortions are to continue to be granted freedom of conscience, and organisations that promote abortion are not to receive public funding. Mandatory ultrasound examinations before the procedure are also among the proposals.
AfD’s focus on demographics and family policy is particularly visible in the eastern federal states. The party is strong there, and the birth rate there is particularly low.
Other parties regard AfD’s proposals as ideologically motivated and unrealistic. They are also portrayed by the ‘my body, my choice’ mafia as an attempt to restrict women’s control over their ‘own bodies’. AfD maintains that the political establishment has for years ignored the problem in favour of an immigration policy that is destructive of German culture.
